This invention is in the fields of both alarm reporting and radio paging. This invention is designed to combine the best features and advantages of both security dialers and the most modern form of text messaging called alphanumeric paging
Security dialers have been in use for many years previous to this time and have been developed to be inexpensive and reliable Security dialers communicate using pulsed tones, FSK, or DTMF and are designed to communicate their alarm reports to central monitoring stations having specialized telephone line receivers which answer the dialers and decode the alarm codes and dialer ID. Security dialers are not capable of communicating alphanumeric messages to paging terminals because the paging industry has standardized on a different format for communicating alphanumeric message entry. The paging industry adopted the Motorola PET protocol for entering alphanumeric messages into a paging terminal The PET protocol is a specially formatted ASCII communications which uses a full duplex serial or modem port on a paging terminal The PET protocol was first implemented in the paging industry in 1984. By 1989, the paging industry had completely standardized on the PET protocol The Spokes organization for the paging industry, Telocator, henceforth referred to the PET protocol (Motorola's name for it) as TAP, which is short for Telocator Alphanumeric Protocol.
The purpose of this invention is to permit the use of relatively simple and inexpensive dialers to replace traditional type PET/TAP entry devices Typically, the PET/TAP entry devices, by design, are relatively complex and expensive due to the requirements that they store messages internally and communicate those messages using an auto dial modem to communicate an alphanumeric messages automatically to a paging terminal. Another difficulty posed by the traditional PET/TAP entry devices is the complex programming required by the operator to enter messages into the entry devices. The dialers used to communicate with this invention do not require or user programming.
This invention is a code protocol converter which is designed to receive calls from the simpler and inexpensive security dialers and to convert the alarm report into an alphanumeric message to be sent to a pager by using PET/TAP protocol. The net result of this invention will be to lessen the cost and complexity of monitor/dialers to the end user, while still providing the advantage of the more sophisticated alphanumeric paging format for alarm monitoring.
When the security dialers detect an alarm condition, they dial through the public switched telephone network (PSTN) to the Protocol Converter. The converter answers the call, communicates in the security industry protocol of the dialer and then looks up in memory the corresponding pager and message information and converts the information into PET/TAP protocol for communication to the paging terminal's alpha port. The paging system then transmits the page digitally to the proper pager or pagers which display the alphanumeric message (up to 80 characters).